Deer hunting sought for Grand Traverse Bay island

September 02, 2011

PENINSULA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Shooters and archers soon could be able to hunt deer on a publicly owned island in northern Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay.

The Grand Traverse County parks board has voted to help cull the deer herd on Power Island by allowing hunting there this fall. The 220-acre island is in Peninsula Township, just off the Old Mission Peninsula and about eight miles north of Traverse City. Officials estimate it has 50 deer.

"This would be a very attractive place to bow hunt, and the right to hunt would be a very attractive and saleable opportunity," said Peter Doren, a parks commissioner.

Officials say they also hope a hunt would raise money to help close a gap in the parks budget.

However, that runs up against DNR rules, said agency spokeswoman Mary Dettloff. She told the Traverse City Record-Eagle that while the county may create a lottery system for hunters, it can't charge them for a permit.

"We believe the county has the ability to charge an access fee to the island but not to charge for a hunting permit on the island," she said.

The DNR suggests restricting hunting numbers for safety reasons, similar to what the agency does when it allows deer to be killed at state parks, Dettloff said.

"We only let a certain number of hunters in because we wouldn't want them shooting at each other," she said.

Park officials say they want to kill island deer to prevent overgrazing that produced weak, stunted and starving deer on the island in the 1970s.

The county resolved that problem by eradicating Power Island's deer in 1976. Deer later returned and re-established a herd.

Mike Ebach of Interlochen, an active hunter for 35 years, said he liked the idea of a Power Island deer hunt.

"You'd be able to hunt something that's not available to the rest of the public," Ebach said. "A lot of people would be interested. It's an area that hasn't been hunted and ... a lot of people are interested in older deer."